--- title: Lease, Finance or Pay Cash for Your Next Delivery Truck? description: Should a building centre lease, finance or pay cash for a delivery truck? The trade-offs on cash flow, return conditions, ownership and CCA tax classes. image: https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Blue%20Crane%20Truck%20At%20Building%20Centre%20Lot.png --- [![Trinity Truck Sales logo](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/Trinity%20Truck%20Sales.jpg)The Building Centre Truck ProgramOperated by Trinity Truck Sales](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/?hsLang=en) [Home](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/?hsLang=en) Who We Help ▾ [Home Hardware](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/the-home-hardware-truck-program?hsLang=en) [Castle Building Centres](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/castle-truck-program?hsLang=en) [All Canadian Building Centres](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/building-centre-truck-program?hsLang=en) [Fleet Advisor +](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/fleet-advisor-plus?hsLang=en) [Our Truck Guide](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/building-centre-product-catalogue?hsLang=en) [About Trinity](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/our-story?hsLang=en) [Blog](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly) [Contact](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/contact-me-global?hsLang=en) ☰ Looking to speak with Phil? call directly at [(289) 527-4345](tel:12895274345) [Home](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/?hsLang=en) › [Blog](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly) # Lease, Finance or Pay Cash for Your Next Delivery Truck? ![Phil Aitken](https://app.hubspot.com/settings/avatar/e0b1fa7ef5f70dbbc84514aff5461c2a) **Phil Aitken**, President, Trinity Truck Sales • Oct 9, 2026, 10:42:53 AM • 3 min read ![\ Once a dealer settles on the right truck, the next question is how to pay for it. I hear three answers. Some owners pay cash because they don't like debt. Some finance because they'd rather keep cash in the business. Some ask about leasing because a friend with a pickup told them it was cheaper. Each one can be the right answer. Each one can also cost you if it doesn't fit how you run your trucks. I'm not an accountant, and the tax side of this is a conversation for yours. But I've watched a lot of building centres pay for a lot of trucks, and a few patterns are worth knowing before you sit down with your banker. ## Paying cash Paying cash is simple. No interest, no payments, no lender. You own the truck outright from day one. The cost is the cash itself. A spec'd medium-duty truck with a deck and crane ties up a lot of money, and a building centre needs working capital for inventory, especially heading into spring. If paying cash for a truck means stretching your line of credit for lumber, you may be paying interest anyway, on a different account. ## Financing Financing spreads the cost over the years you use the truck. You still own it, so you control how long you keep it, how hard you run it and what you bolt onto it. For most building centres I work with, that's the best fit. Delivery trucks get modified, run hard and kept a long time. Ownership suits that. The monthly payment is predictable, and you keep your cash for the business. Shop the rate. A national program with volume behind it can often get better terms than a single store walking into its local bank. ## Leasing Leasing gives you lower payments and a truck you hand back at the end. It can work well for light-duty pickups that run normal kilometres and come back in decent shape. For a building centre delivery truck, read the lease closely. Leases come with kilometre limits and return conditions. A flatbed that's spent five years hauling lumber and working a crane will come back with wear, and the lessor will count every dent. Custom upfits complicate things too, since the body and crane may not be worth much to the lessor at the end. Some building centres lease successfully, usually with a lessor that understands work trucks. Make sure you know what the truck has to look like when you give it back. ## The tax side, briefly Your accountant will want to know the truck's weight. In Canada, trucks under 11,788 kg generally fall into capital cost allowance Class 10 at 30%. Heavier freight trucks over 11,788 kg can fall into Class 16 at 40%, which lets you write them down faster. The federal government also proposed bringing back the accelerated first-year write-off in Budget 2025. Whether and how it applies to your purchase depends on timing and on the final rules, so ask your accountant before you sign. Lease payments get treated differently again. The point isn't to become a tax expert. It's to bring your accountant in before you choose how to pay, not after. ## How I'd approach it Decide the truck first, then the payment method. The worst outcome is a dealer who picks the cheaper truck to make a monthly payment work and lives with the wrong spec for ten years. Then get your accountant and your lender in the same conversation. Ask them what the truck costs you per year over the time you'll keep it, under each option. That number tells you more than the monthly payment does. If you'd like help putting together the truck side of that conversation, give me a call. We can give you a full spec and price that your accountant can work from. 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For 18 years Phil has spec'd, sourced and delivered work trucks for Canadian building centres. [Read Phil's story](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/our-story?hsLang=en) or call [(289) 527-4345](tel:12895274345). Have a truck decision coming up? ## Send me your daily load and delivery radius I'll come back with a spec, price and sourcing plan. No obligation, no lot-pushing. [Get a Quote](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/contact-me-global?hsLang=en) ## Keep reading [![Spec the Truck Your Drivers Want to Drive](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/Completed%20Deliveries/Roll-Offs%20(Kargo%20King)/HHDS%20Photos%20%20(A4%20(Landscape))%20(37).jpg)](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/spec-the-truck-your-drivers-want-to-drive) ## [Spec the Truck Your Drivers Want to Drive](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/spec-the-truck-your-drivers-want-to-drive) Oct 7, 2026, 5:09:21 PM [Read the article →](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/spec-the-truck-your-drivers-want-to-drive) [![Your Truck Is Heavier Than You Think: Payload After the Deck, Crane and Moffett](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/750-2.jpeg)](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/your-truck-is-heavier-than-you-think-payload-after-the-deck-crane-and-moffett) ## [Your Truck Is Heavier Than You Think: Payload After the Deck, Crane and Moffett](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/your-truck-is-heavier-than-you-think-payload-after-the-deck-crane-and-moffett) Oct 6, 2026, 10:47:23 AM [Read the article →](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/your-truck-is-heavier-than-you-think-payload-after-the-deck-crane-and-moffett) [![Fewer Houses, More Apartments: What That Means for Your Delivery Fleet](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/Completed%20Deliveries/Moffett%20Trucks/Moffett%20M5%20-1.jpg)](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/fewer-houses-more-apartments-what-that-means-for-your-delivery-fleet) ## [Fewer Houses, More Apartments: What That Means for Your Delivery Fleet](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/fewer-houses-more-apartments-what-that-means-for-your-delivery-fleet) Oct 4, 2026, 9:54:33 PM [Read the article →](https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/fewer-houses-more-apartments-what-that-means-for-your-delivery-fleet) Trinity Truck Sales Inc. Phil Aitken — President  |  (289) 527-4345  |  [phil@trinitytrucksales.ca](mailto:phil@trinitytrucksales.ca) Copyright © Trinity Truck Sales Inc 2026 [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/in/phil-aitken-a9b96819/?originalSubdomain=ca)    [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61561022720417) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "Phil Aitken", "url" : "https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/author/phil-aitken" }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-09T14:42:53.978Z", "datePublished" : "2026-10-09T14:42:53.000Z", "headline" : "Lease, Finance or Pay Cash for Your Next Delivery Truck?", "image" : [ "https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/AI-Generated%20Media/Images/Blue%20Crane%20Truck%20At%20Building%20Centre%20Lot.png" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://trinitytrucksales.ca/phil-aitkens-bi-weekly/lease-finance-or-pay-cash-for-your-next-delivery-truck", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://trinitytrucksales.ca/hubfs/Building%20Centre%20Truck%20Program%20Logo.png" }, "name" : "Trinity Truck Sales Inc." } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "jobTitle" : "President", "name" : "Phil Aitken", "worksFor" : { "@type" : "Organization", "name" : "Trinity Truck Sales Inc.", "url" : "https://trinitytrucksales.ca" } }, "dateModified" : "2026-10-09", "datePublished" : "2026-10-09", "description" : "Should a building centre lease, finance or pay cash for a delivery truck? 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